Hawaii’s 20th consecutive win was all about No. 5.
Wearing the libero jersey for the second straight match, ‘Eleu Choy dazzled the crowd in SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center with a career-high 11 often spectacular digs and the top-ranked Rainbow Warriors completed a series sweep of Concordia University Irvine with a 25-20, 25-19, 25-19 win before a Friday night crowd of 4,078.
“He’s a really impressive athlete,” UH coach Charlie Wade said as Choy got the rock-star treatment from a group of screaming fans after the Warriors improved to 11-0. “Tremendous foot speed and his game has evolved and he can play at a really high level now.
“Great to see ‘Eleu get out there and do what he does, and now everybody’s getting a chance to see what a good player he is.”
With UH setter Jakob Thelle again sitting out to rest his knees, Brett Sheward started at setter, with Choy at libero for the second straight night.
A 5-foot-7 Farrington graduate who appeared in six sets over three matches this season prior to his starts this week, Choy repeatedly hit the Taraflex for diving saves and helped initiate the UH attack in handling a team-high 18 serve receptions without an error in his third start of this season.
“It means a lot because I really want to represent for the state of Hawaii,” said Choy, a sophomore in his fourth year in the program.
“It feels great because any way I can contribute to the team I’m willing to do it. Even if I were to just play one play … whatever it takes to get my team to victory and success.”
While Choy had limited opportunities to play in front of the home crowd prior to this week’s series, his ability to energize the arena was an extension of what the Warriors see in practice on a regular basis.
“‘Eleu’s known to do that,” UH outside hitter Spyros Chakas said. “In the practice gym, he’s the guy that will bring energy. Even if we’re tired, ‘Eleu will be the one that gets us going.”
Choy’s night included a pancake save of a shot off the UH block and a diving pass near the sideline, both leading to Chakas kills, in the second set.
In the third set, he sprawled beyond the backline for a one-handed stab to extend a rally that ended with a Chaz Galloway kill.
Chakas made a similar save in the back row later in the third set, again leading to a Galloway kill as part of UH’s 10-2 run to take control.
“I don’t usually do that, so it felt good,” Chakas said. “I’m happy I was able to help the team defensively as well and ‘Eleu played a big part of that.
“I think it was a very defensive game. We knew this was not a team that would swing over us. It was a team where we would have to get deflections off the block and have to chase the balls. So I think we adjusted well blocking and defensively.”
Choy delivered his career-high performance with his parents courtside and in the arena where his sister, Bailey, drew similar cheers as a setter for the Rainbow Wahine in 2019.
“They really sacrificed a lot for me,” Choy said. “My dad, my mom, Bailey and her husband, they sacrificed a lot for me and it’s a huge honor.”
Chakas put away a match-high 14 kills on .462 hitting. Opposite Dimitrios Mouchlias added 10 kills on 17 attacks and Galloway rebounded after a rough start to finish with 11 kills. Sheward distributed 36 assists for an attack that hit .382 a night after setting a career high with 55 assists in UH’s four-set win in the series opener.
“Yesterday (Sheward) came in after being a libero for a year and a half and he did a great job. But tonight he did an even better job,” Chakas said. “He spread the game really well, involved the middles, and got us going early on.”
UH middle blockers Guilherme Voss, Cole Hogland and Kurt Nusterer combined for 10 kills on 15 attacks without an error and the Warriors put down eight blocks to CUI’s two.
Uriel Batista led the Golden Eagles (4-7) with 10 kills in 29 attempts.
The Warriors continue their five-week homestand with a two-match series with Long Island University starting Wednesday.
